Sorry it has taken me so long to get something posted, and very belated thanks everyone for their greetings just after I joined.
I’m sure what I’m posting here is very familiar, but I wanted to document the process from beginning to end. Hopefully a bit of what I put here will be interesting to other new comers to the hobby.
I’ve been working away on my helmet for some time. I wanted to make something Star Wars related over the winter months (I made a lightsaber back in December for a costume used at the Star Wars VII opening and wanted to see what else I might be able to do), and was hoping to also do something that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg.
After some online searching, I can across an Instructables page with a good set of instructions and the pattern. I was off and running, although continued to do some research to see what else I could find online to help me with my build (which is, of course, how I ended up at the Dented Helmet!).
I had originally thought of making a Boba Fett reproduction, but reconsidered in favour of making a more generic Mandalorian helmet. I thought having a bit more flexibility in the design and finishing of the helmet might be easier for a first build.
As I was doing some of the assembly in my basement, and given that it was too cold in the winter to use Bondo or fiber glass in my garage, I decided to use cardboard, white glue, a glue gun, spackle and Minwax polycrylic finish for my build. None of these components were toxic or needed to be used outdoors (although I did all the sanding in my garage – I’m just getting to the painting stage of things now, so the weather is warm enough to do this in the garage), so I didn’t run into huge issues working in my basement. I’m not planning to wear my helmet, but to use it for decoration in our rec room / bar (which will also give me a reason to make a few more helmets).
I rather foolishly didn’t carry out too much investigation on the type of cardstock to use before starting out (I know now that the 110 lbs stock is the way to go), and began by using single-ply cardboard from a pizza box along with a couple of pieces of Bristol board I glued / laminated together.
Needless to say, the results were less than stellar, although the exercise was informative. This ultimately will end up heading into the Great Pit of Carkoon (aka – our paper recycling bin):
1 of 3
2 of 3
3 of 3
More to follow shortly...
I’m sure what I’m posting here is very familiar, but I wanted to document the process from beginning to end. Hopefully a bit of what I put here will be interesting to other new comers to the hobby.
I’ve been working away on my helmet for some time. I wanted to make something Star Wars related over the winter months (I made a lightsaber back in December for a costume used at the Star Wars VII opening and wanted to see what else I might be able to do), and was hoping to also do something that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg.
After some online searching, I can across an Instructables page with a good set of instructions and the pattern. I was off and running, although continued to do some research to see what else I could find online to help me with my build (which is, of course, how I ended up at the Dented Helmet!).
I had originally thought of making a Boba Fett reproduction, but reconsidered in favour of making a more generic Mandalorian helmet. I thought having a bit more flexibility in the design and finishing of the helmet might be easier for a first build.
As I was doing some of the assembly in my basement, and given that it was too cold in the winter to use Bondo or fiber glass in my garage, I decided to use cardboard, white glue, a glue gun, spackle and Minwax polycrylic finish for my build. None of these components were toxic or needed to be used outdoors (although I did all the sanding in my garage – I’m just getting to the painting stage of things now, so the weather is warm enough to do this in the garage), so I didn’t run into huge issues working in my basement. I’m not planning to wear my helmet, but to use it for decoration in our rec room / bar (which will also give me a reason to make a few more helmets).
I rather foolishly didn’t carry out too much investigation on the type of cardstock to use before starting out (I know now that the 110 lbs stock is the way to go), and began by using single-ply cardboard from a pizza box along with a couple of pieces of Bristol board I glued / laminated together.
Needless to say, the results were less than stellar, although the exercise was informative. This ultimately will end up heading into the Great Pit of Carkoon (aka – our paper recycling bin):
1 of 3
2 of 3
3 of 3
More to follow shortly...
